The March of Time

I love world-building. If this hobby didn’t feature it, I’d probably be playing golf or building ships in bottles for recreation. The fact I get to create an imaginary world with all its little details and invented history is the reason I’ve spent the majority of my years in this hobby on the referee’s side of the screen.

And although drawing political borders and creating vast cities has its pleasures, I really enjoy making up the fine details that breathe life into the setting. These little touches, while maybe not doing much for the overall campaign world, are the sparks which set the world ablaze in the players’ minds.

Some years back, I jotted down a few ideas about timekeeping in R’Nis – names of years, months, weeks, etc. While entertaining to create on the large scale, it was coming up with the hours of the day that was the most fun. My world has a goddess of Time and all large settlements with a temple dedicated to her mark the hours with the ringing of bells. It only seemed fitting that a fantasy world have a less prosaic clock than a simple numerical count of hours. And so, the March of Hours was born.

Below is an updated version of my original notes. I came across them again yesterday while searching for something else. Feel free to steal them or adapt them if you’re looking for a way to count the hours and don’t really care about the lack of reliable timekeeping in a pseudo-medieval setting. I certainly don’t.

DawnMarch (6 AM): According to the priests of Eram and the Grand Clock, DawnMarch is the start of the new day.

WakeMarch (7 AM): Traditionally, the time when honest folk rise from the beds and prepare to meet the day.

MornMarch (8 AM): This is the hour that families break their fast before beginning their day’s work. It is a time for families to come together and converse around the bread-bread table. It is also the hour that the first cups of kahvak are served.

MarketMarch (9 AM): At this hour, the stores and businesses of the City Resilient open their doors. It marks the start of most of the city’s working population’s day of labor.

DayMarch (10 AM): According to the clocks of the Temple of Time, the new day is now fully underway. Anyone who pursues a traditional lifestyle in the City Resilient and is still asleep at this hour is considered a slugabed.

InnMarch (11 AM): After cleaning and preparing the kitchens for the day to come at MarketMarch, the inns and taverns of Xultvar are now open for business. Anyone currently renting a room must either depart or pay for another night’s lodging. In some parts of the city, the lines of drunks that formed in front of tavern doors at DayMarch are now allowed in to begin their binging.

NoonMarch (12 PM): NoonMarch indicates that the midday break is on its way. At this hour, meals that require time to prepare are begun and preparations for lunch are made. Otherwise, the city continues on as usual.

EatMarch (1 PM): Lunchtime in the city. The meals started at NoonMarch are ready to be eaten. Some shops close their doors during this March, while inns and taverns attempt to draw customers off the street with lunch specials and the smell of fine food.

DogsMarch (2 PM): This March gets its name from the old saying, “In the heat of this hour, only rabid dogs and madmen tread the streets.” This is the hottest hour during the summer months; merchants and tradesmen lower awnings and cool their shops as best as possible. It is also a much hated time by apprentices, as they are sent out into the streets to run errands for the masters at this time. During the winter months, this hour is referred to as the “March not fit for man nor dog.”

ForgeMarch (3 PM): Since leaving a hot forge unattended is a fire hazard, most smithies, weapon shops, glass blowers, bakers, and armorers choose this hour to extinguish their ovens, forges, and crucibles. This gives them two hours to cool before closing, allowing the craftsmen to lock their doors for the night without fears of an accidental fire. Any priority jobs that come in just before ForgeMarch are bound to cost more, since the craftsmen will need to stay late at the shop to insure their ovens and forges cool enough to close for the evening.

CashMarch (4 PM): This is the hour that merchants begin tallying their business for the day and counting the coins in the till. Ledgers are filled, money is secured in safes, and small sums are left available for last-minute trade. This is also the hour that the day’s final inventories are counted. The shops are winding down for the day.

HomeMarch (5 PM): The workday is over. At this time, most merchants and craftsmen are closing their doors and heading home for their evening meals. A few stray merchants leave their shops open, but soon a darker clientele will be on the streets. Most shopkeepers are looking forward to another cup of kahvak.

ShadowsMarch (6 PM): Night begins to creep into the city. This is the hour that most of the night people of the city begin to awake. Harlots dine and plan their outfits, thieves sharpen their dirks, and assassins gather to plot the night’s events.

DuskMarch (7 PM): Most of the nocturnal population of Xultvar is dining and preparing for the evening. The inns of the city begin to turn down the sheets in their rooms and a few extra kegs are tapped in preparation for the night.

FiresMarch (8 PM): The Lamplighters Guild takes to the streets and lights the city’s lamps, braziers, and lanterns for the evening to come. In private residences in the city, candles, lamps, and hearths are lit. It is rumored that the Thieves Guild meets at this time.

NightMarch (9 PM): Night has fallen and the nocturnal people of the city are out in force. The taverns begin to fill, harlots stroll the streets, and the first of the night’s crime are committed.

SongMarch (10 PM): The patrons of the taverns have a few mugs of ale in them and seek entertainment. During this hour, bards, entertainers, dancers, magicians, and troubadours begins their nightly performances. Their audiences, loosened by ale and wine, are more eager to tip the performers well.

MurderMarch (11 PM): The city watch has completed their first rounds, ale is flowing freely, and insults are being traded. In city legend, this is the hour that most murders, muggings, brawls, and assassinations occur. Despite little hard evidence that this hour has more killings than any other, its name remains unchallenged.

HighMarch (12 AM): The Witching Hour. Considered to be the period when the moon is at its apex, this is the time when the night people begin to act in earnest. The Night Market opens its doors at this hour.

MagesMarch (1 AM): According to legend, this is the hour that mages, wizards, witches, and alchemists begin their incantations and experiments. The moon is high, the stars are bright, and magic flows freely through the night air. Whether there is any truth to these legends is known only by the magi themselves.

SpiritsMarch (2 AM): Folklore tells that this is the hour when the spirits of the dead are most likely to cross the border of death to vex the living. It is uncommon to find anyone on the street at this hour. Most ruffians continue to drink in the taverns; the city guards patrol the walls and halls of city office, and harlots, their pimps, and clients are safely inside bordellos and bawdry houses during this March. Those who dare the streets encounter dark-robed necromancers, grave robbers, and the spirits of the dead.

LateMarch (3 AM): Night is coming to a close at this hour. With SpiritsMarch past, ruffians, rogues, and thieves are headed towards bed. The Night Market begins to shut down and the last rounds of the city watch prowl the streets. Most taverns are calling for last rounds.

RevelersMarch (4 AM): The last crowds of partygoers and drinkers are stumbling home. The city watch is known to be lax in their duties at this hour, allowing drunks who can get up and walk the chance to avoid time in the city gaol. Insults to the watch, however, are NOT tolerated. At this hour, the taverns have closed and city grows quiet.

LastMarch (5 AM): The sun is soon to rise and the night watch is looking forward to a draught of kahvak back at their barracks. Those who are awake make preparations for the new day and wait for the next ringing of the March bells.

Dwarven Wisdom

This week, I really mean it. I’ve got a lot to catch up on and posts will be brief in nature while I tie up a few loose ends and step away from things fantasy role-playing oriented for a well-deserved breather. Even my thrice-monthly gaming group is taking Saturday off.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to get a look at the draft of Open Game Table: The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs that Jonathan Jacobs of The Core Mechanic has been putting together. Jonathan, assisted by a volunteer crew, has assembled an anthology of role-playing blog posts that were recommended by the reading community-at-large as the best of 2008. I was quite pleased to have one of my own efforts included amongst those nominated and delighted to have made the final cut for inclusion in the anthology. Having has a chance to see what Jonathan and others put together was quite a treat; not only because I can now officially add “artist” to the list of my credentials – something that I never thought would be included on that list and when you see my drawings, you’ll likely agree – but because the company in which I’m included is of the highest caliber.

Many of the posts in the anthology are ones which I might have never laid eyes upon without this project. The future opportunity to peruse them away from monitor and keyboard is one that I’m anticipating greatly.

Since my own contribution to the anthology was collected pieces from my commonplace books, I thought it might be fitting to revisit that ramshackle compilation of ideas good, bad, and indifferent to select something for today’s post. The following is due for an appearance in Stonehell and, due to space allowance, it might be prudent to reproduce it here for later reference rather than in the two pages allowed in the .pdf.

Carved into the walls of the temples of Droshnor Orethain, Dwarven god of Riches and Knowledge, are the Eightfold Veins of Wisdom. These collected proverbs are meant to guide a pious, devout, and, most of all, hard-working dwarf to a life rewarded by both intellectual and pecuniary prosperity. The Eightfold Veins are:

1) Strength may seize but it is thought that controls.
2) Even the basest of metals may be cleansed of their dross.
3) Rock only reveals her tale to those willing to hear.
4) Too many is as hurtful as too few.
5) Treasures do not all glitter.
6) Only the future may unlearn the past.
7) The first action equals the last.
8) Time is a Dwarf’s greatest ally.

A Few More Maps

As I spend the first full day of my 36th year contemplating my navel and my place in the cosmos, please accept these maps from my commonplace books as gestures of goodwill, and a reminder that we never know what's out there until we venture forth for ourselves.

This area lies several leagues north of the Xultvar, the City Resilient, which serves as my stand-in for Lankhmar, Greyhawk, Waterdeep, etc. Part of the Eastern Reaches of the old empire, the area has descended into a collection of city-states and independent towns held loosely together by the traditions of the once-mighty empire. If you cut a left through the Zephyr Pass, you'll end up in the territory where Ol' Nameless is placed.


Behold Varkarös, "The City of Mists". Varkarös is located on a stub of land down in the southern jungle continent, wherein lies the remenants of Xoryphaal - kin to our Atlantis here on Earth. Varkarös is part ancient city filled with strange architecture and part Port Royal, Jamaica, inhabited by free-booters and scoundrels. Go deep enough into the jungles and you might find The Dwellers of the Forbidden City.

An unnamed village that I sketched out in an attempt to create a settlement that remained somewhat realistic. I again employed the old trick of drawing a place I'd like to live. Those marks just south of the hill by the river indicate where the teenagers of the village go to race their fathers' horses and indulge in the past times of youth.


The quiet town of Tinfi Run. The closest settlement to nearby Dead Ox, and gateway to Zephyr Pass. Ever since the mountain giants took out the bridge in Rushscar, Tinfi Run has seen a influx of traffic coming up the old road to the southeast. Damn mountain giants and their drinking binges of fermented giant goat milk...

The Commonplace Book

Every referee worth his or her salt probably keeps one of these. For many years, I referred to the set that I keep as my “dump books”, but having learned the proper term for them, I now prefer the more elegant-sounding “commonplace books”.

A commonplace book, traditionally, is a personal journal where quotable passages, notes, prayers, recipes, comments, etc. are kept for later consultation. Each becomes a scrapbook that reflects the personality and interests of its author. The concept of the commonplace book dates back to the 15th century, a time when writing paper became easily affordable to most. While the commonplace book is usually associated with authors, it’s no surprise that many referees, some of whom are aspiring authors, keep them as well.

A referee’s commonplace book can take many forms: a journal, a word document, index cards, a PDA, a blog, a wiki, or what have you. Personally, since I’ve always preferred the heft and substance of an actual book, I keep several commonplace notebooks in which to stash ideas until they grow to maturity. I have an artist’s sketchbook, which is the oldest of them, three regular marble composition notebooks, and soft cover 3.25” x4.5” marble memo book, which fits easily into my back pocket. Over the years, these books have followed me from dorm rooms, to apartments, to weekend getaways, to bars, to motel rooms, to trips into the mountains and to the beach, and from nightstand to nightstand. In that time, they’ve gathered quite a collection of sketches, maps, names, adventure seeds, world-building entries, monsters, magic items, historical anecdotes, and other ideas that have struck my fancy. Some of those ideas will never see the light of day in actual play, while others are just waiting for the proper time to take the stage.

I’m getting close to reaching a point of pause in the Dungeon Not Yet Named™, so I’m beginning to think about larger things than just the halls of that dungeon. To prepare for this, I’ve gone through my commonplace books looking for old ideas that I might want to include in the surface world to help flesh things out for when the adventurers are breathing fresh air again. Mostly I’ve been looking at maps and town set-dressing, but I’ve run across a few things that I’ve forgotten about over the years. They’re what would be considered “fluff” – a term I very much dislike – rather than “crunch”, but they amuse me and I’d thought I’d share a few of them. They’d appreciate the opportunity of getting out for a change, rather than moldering amongst the pages as usual. Consider them a cross-section of my commonplace books. Chances are that you’ve got some similar gems of your own.

Atrocious Drawings

As an artist, my skills ceased developing somewhere around the stick figure. I’ve tried to improve them from time to time, but I’m convinced that I lack the proper genes and talent to ever get anywhere near where I’d like to be. I’ve accepted this fact and moved on, but it doesn’t stop me from trying from time to time. I stick to still-life though.

A sketch of a Sweet Bog Berry. Inspired by my childhood love of beach plum jelly.

Itch Leaf sketch. Also inspired by my childhood, mostly from my yearly run-ins with poison ivy.
This is an unnamed plant I took to doodling one day. I'm not quite sure what it is or what its properties might be, but the presence of the little berries probably indicates that it can be used in either herbalistic healing or general cooking.

Proverbs, Sayings, and Literary Quotes

I stole this device shamelessly from Ed Greenwood’s tendency to start chapters in his novels with quotes from various plays and books that exist in the Forgotten Realms. I like this literary device, despite the slings and arrows that have been hurled at old Ed. I much prefer it to a similar device that R.A. Salvatore tends to use in the Drizz’t novels, wherein he separates sections of the book with essays and journal entries penned by a certain drow. At best, those seem to go against the old adage of “show, don’t tell.” At worst, they resemble the MySpace entries of some emo kid.

These short sayings remind me that there is more going on in my campaign world than high adventure and nation-shaking events. I’ve always envisioned adventurers as more “working-class heroes” than superheroes, and little things like this these help keep me grounded in that territory.

“What be stronger: teeth or tongue? Often the tongue destroys that which the teeth could never hope to chew.” - Dwarven proverb

“Buridrin awoke, sighed, stood up, and went to work.” – First line of the Dwarven account of the world’s creation.

Dwarves have always struck me a being very pragmatic folks, yet still possessing a sort of Zen-like wisdom. I think these two quotes sums that up.

Thief Proverbs:
1) If the chicken keeps laying rubies, you don’t kill the hen.
2) The quickest way to grow more daggers is to start planting them in backs.
3) A smart man learns of his lord’s orchard, and only harvests the trees allowed.

Thieves would have accumulated quite a few proverbs regarding their trade, given its long history.

“When I was young, I dreamt of magic, fine drink, and caressing arms as I lay awake at night. Now, I would trade my spells, my treasures, and all my days of pleasure for one dreamless night in a warm, soft bed.” – Rual Sytrik, Pages from the Trail

“Some wise and happy men choose to fill their days by collecting baubles they find comely. I have met a wheelwright who collects tiny forest animals carved from stone. I know of a noble lady who filled her court with birds of bright plumage, and a child who sought out the hair of elves. These little bits of joy help them when the skies are grey and the winter winds blow against the door. I am not a wise, nor a happy man, for I chose to collect problems.”

I like these two quotes the most. They capture the melancholy two older adventurers might feel upon looking back on their lives. The first is from a more successful mage, one who is entering his twilight years. The second is from a grizzled, grey-bearded soul whose still in the game but rethinking the choices he made in his youth. They reflect my own thoughts as I get older.

"Zaltz! Klaublumfun!” – Sign posted at the edge of a gnomish minefield.

My gnomes speak a sort of fantastical pseudo-German. This was my attempt to capture what that language might look like in the written form.

Maps

R’Nis is a patchwork world. I’ve got an overall map of the major continent sketched out, but much of it lacks detail. From time to time, I imagine what parts of that map looks like on a smaller scale and try to sketch out the details. The end result is intricate areas of fine design separated by vast areas of vague canvas. I supplement the map by writing adventures in areas that I haven’t yet detailed, which forces me to zoom in on that section of the world and flesh it out. I sketched this region out while sitting in a bar with a pitcher of beer and a handful of colored pencils. I just started doodling and coloring, achieving this as the end result. I've not placed any adventures in this area, but the little bits of local color like "The Tribe of the Dog" have seen use in other places.

I have a simple trick for when I draw maps of little towns and villages: I think "would I like to live there?" With that I mind, I start putting down features that I would enjoy passing on my day-to-day activities, or places that I would have liked to play as a child. It keeps my interest and breathes life into this little hamlets.